The Telecommunications and Radiocommunications Regulator (TRR), with the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) is co-hosting the 2018 Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF). The event is due to take place on the 13-16 August 2018 at the Vanuatu National Convention Center.

The APrIGF serves as a platform for discussion, exchange and collaboration on Internet Governance and related activities at a regional level, and also where possible to aggregate national IGF discussions, ultimately advance the Internet governance development in the Asia Pacific region.

In 2010, while the global IGF is already in its fifth and final year of its initial charter, and Regional IGFs have been established in many other regions, including Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, to date, Asia Pacific has seen no parallel forum for discussing Internet governance issues at a regional level. For the first time, the APrIGF is therefore being convened with objectives to raise awareness and encourage participation from relevant stakeholders and importantly internet communities around the region on Internet governance issues. The event will also foster multi-lateral, multi-stakeholder discussion about issues pertinent to the Internet in the Asia and the Pacific.

The multi-stakeholder approach is a core principle of the APrIGF with the emphasis on the diversity of participants and openness of the discussion. Valuing the youth as an important stakeholder and the future generations of the Internet, a Youth IGF also become an integral part of the APrIGF whereby they are held in parallel annually featuring a simulation of the multi-stakeholder discussion model among the young people on various Internet issues including its governance.

Dr. Vint Cerf. an American Internet pioneer, who is recognized as "the father of the Internet" will be the guest during this year’s events in Port Vila.

More information about this meeting can be found on the event website www.aprigf.asia